Airbnb hosting 101 part.1

We were busy Airbnb hosts for a few years. We never made Super hosts, but were always very close. Why? Let me tell you, so you don’t make the same rookie mistakes. Now we moved on to the new challenges. Are we done with hosting? It was fun and we would love to do it again sometime, but on a different scale. We learned a lot and are happy to share our knowledge.

1. What type of host are you planning to be?

Are you, like in the old days when Airbnb was young, renting a spare room
or only a bed in your home/dorm room/basement? We had one extra room. Most of
those tips work with apartments also.

Do you own multiple cottages on different tropic islands and plan to put them online? If yes, this article is not for you. But, if you are looking for a property manager that doesn’t need to be on site, I might think about it. Tropical islands you say? I would have to test those cottages in person, of course 🙂

We did a budget trip to London a while ago. A lot of money was saved, since someone decided to put their couch in the living room on Airbnb platform. Sadly, in 2019 Harry is no longer available. Why, Meghan, why?

2. Am I getting rich fast?

Check out your competition online. When we started, there were a lot less places available in Ljubljana. Are similar places booked or not? More competition means lower prices. After you pay all taxes, is there any profit left? How long will you need to get back the initial founds you had to spend to get the place ready to rent? Unless you are located next to the Eiffel tower, you will probably have start with promotional prices to get the initial reviews. Are you planning to share your space only to meet new people? Try Couchsurfing instead.

For us, it was not the only income, but we could earn a lot more if we wanted to. We meet people who rent there flats during high season and sleep at their friends places. I hope they at least share some profit with those friends.

Old city centre of Funchal on Madeira island is full of hidden gems. We also meet some awesome Airbnb hosts there.

3. Why would I pay taxes?

Most of hosts in our country forgot to pay income taxes on their Airbnbs for a few years. That didn’t go so well, since all things you do online can be traced back to you. Unless you are Mr. Robot. Airbnb was a wild territory a few years back but most governments know it exists now and are regulating it. In Berlin for example you can rent only 90 days a year.

We live in a typical Slovenian village with neighbors, who know more about us then we do. For a while, we had only Asian guests. No idea why. Lost Asian guy with huge backpack, walking around Slovenian village and looking lost can’t be really checked in without at least one of the older ladies checking the street noticing him. For us, being totally legal or not was never a question.

4.
Imagine your perfect guest and find out what he/she
needs

We were limited with space and a shared bathroom. If we wanted to host families with kids, there was simply no space for extra beds, toys…. Our place was perfect for a couple or a single traveler. After we had a kid of our own, we preferred single digital nomads, staying longer. Why is this important? You want attract people that are a great fit and will leave happy. Their reviews can make or break you in a world of Airbnb.

5.
Test the room before renting

I am sure you feel like at home in the room/flat, but someone who
comes from across the globe might see some of the appliances for the first
time. We invited friends to sleep over. We used their feedback and made some
improvements. At first we had a really comfy rug in there, but it was almost impossible
to clean in time for the next guest. We made a habit to tell everyone how to recycle
trash and use the kettle in the room, after a few guest incidents.

What appliances did we chose? We tough about what we would want in a room
if we were on a vacation and made it happen. It is not nice to steal, but we borrowed
a few ideas from the places we visited before and loved. Possibility to make a
morning tea or coffee in the room was a must for us. Free map and a ticket for
the local public traffic? Yes, please.

Since goblins love to travel, but usually do it on a budget, we use Airbnb. By using this link to subscribe, you get discount on your first trip, and we get one on our next. If you are not into Airbnb, here is a 10% percent discount on your next booking. Travel as much as you can.